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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Here In This Place I Never Thought We'd Be Today...

So now that everyone has had some time to reflect on Melodifestivalen I think It's a good time to bring this topic back up.

Why did the public turn on Carola and Andreas, two of the biggest singers in all of Sweden?

I think more than anything it was the publics way of pulling both artists back down to earth. I mean Carola had won Melodifestivalen in 2006, and Andreas had placed 3rd and 2nd place in the last two years. They each received massive amounts of publicity and success over the last two years because the public voted and supported each of them.

When the two of them decided to join forces for Melodifestivalen 2008, anyone would admit that they seemed like a sure fire winner. I think that's where the problem lies. What makes the competition so great is that anyone can enter and anyone can potentially win. When two of the biggest stars in Sweden join forces simply to take home first place it's almost like the public doesn't have a say anymore.

When they didn't make it directly into the finals and instead only qualified for the second chance round, the Swedish media had a field day! It didn't matter that they were beat by two fantastic tracks that deserved their spot in the final... suddenly people got excited that they could tear down the two singers. It was no longer a competition for best song... it was about ensuring that they didn't make it into the finals.

When they performed in the Second Chance round against Nordman they really stepped up their game. No other artist in the competition changed their routine like Johnsson and Haagkvist did. But for the first time in Melodifestivalen history... while Carola and Andreas were performing their competition were receiving an immense number of votes before they had even started to perform. Never has another artist received such a high influx of votes while the other act was performing. People weren't voting for Nordman at this point... they were simply voting against Carola and Andreas.

Once Nordman beat Carola and Andreas in the first round they never received the same number of votes again. What is even more unfair is that in all, Carola and Andreas received over 200'000 votes at the Second Chance round. Meanwhile Sibel received just over 100'000 votes and yet she qualified to the finale.

So what is the point of all this? I don't know that there is one. I'm sort of proud of the message that was sent by sending the duo out of the competition. It sends a message that it doesn't matter who you are, just because you're a big name, doesn't mean you'll win it all. Was it fair? I don't think so. At the end of the day the song was fantastic although I still would have voted for Charlotte. Finally, I can't help but feel bad for Carola. The media were seriously cruel to her while I was in Stockholm with her photos splashed across the front page of newspapers every day.

Will Carola ever do anything with the song contest again? Only time will tell... but perhaps the public simply need a break for awhile. I for one would love to see her surprise us all by taking some time off and then proving everyone wrong by re-entering with a fantastic song... perhaps a power ballad?!

'One Love' continues to be one of my favorite songs this year and the more I listen to their song 'Lucky Star,' which was meant to promote the duo in the lead up to the competition, the more I like it as well.

4 comments:

I like One Love as a song but it was just too much. The duet aspect was so obvious and cynical and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Also I have to disagree with you about the performance. I think they were GREAT in Heat Two, but in the AC round they were awful. The performance just reeked of desperation, they had zero chemistry and it fell flat. I did feel sorry for her though (Less so him, I hate his other two entries and I think he has possibly the most punchable face ever), she looked terrified before the result came through.

I hope she comes back, because her solo MF entries are incredible. But not for at least another five years. People are tired of her and I don't blame them. She's flooded the market this year. Christmas album, Framling 25 Ar, the MF entry... give it a rest Carola!

I actually LOVED Carola in her first performance... I love when she's all over the place, stomping her feet and pulling Andreas around... I meant to say that they were so desperate to win that they completely changed the entire performance... the second perfromance was so sweet and they were clearly trying so hard to connect with the viewers.

I agree that it was too much... i think 5 years would be a great time for her to wait before making a final comeback!